Substitute Toyokawa Shoko, you can become stronger by breathing

"Hehehe... Miss Xiangzi, you finally answered my call."

A mature and magnetic female voice came from the other end of the phone, with a lazy smile:

"It's been a long time. It's such a relief to hear your voice again."

It's Chiaki Kitamura.

This polite greeting is so hypocritical that it makes people sick.

Kujo Renji had no interest in acting with her and just listened silently.

"Ms. Xiangzi, how is your band career going lately? I'm looking forward to your performance, especially that unique mask, it's a genius idea."

Kitamura Chiaki was talking to herself.

She was implying that she knew everything about his current situation.

Finally, after a long and impatient opening, the woman's true intentions were revealed.

"Ms. Xiangzi, let's make a deal."

Her tone became serious, with an unyielding force:

"I'm sure you're also having a headache about Bai Shihuye's matter."

"Next, I will be responsible for ensuring Bai Shihu's safety. Furthermore, his mouth will be safer than a safe and will not reveal a single word...about you."

She emphasized the word "you" very heavily, making it full of suggestiveness.

"whats the matter?"

Kitamura Chiaki on the other end of the phone let out a happy chuckle, as if a hunter waiting for his prey to take the bait finally heard the long-awaited response.

"It's very simple," she said. "I just need Miss Xiangzi to do something with me."

"Accompany me to a dinner party."

Dinner?

Countless possibilities flashed through Kujo Renji's mind in an instant.

A Hongmen Banquet? A stage for power exchange? Or some kind of trap set for him?

"A... dinner party at Xianjuan's house."

Chiaki Kitamura slowly and clearly gave the final answer word by word.

........

PS: This chapter has 7,000 words and is considered a transition to the main plot.

Chapter 150: Jiujo Liansi's Hesitation

"Xianjuan Family..."

There's that name again.

Kujo Renji suddenly had a headache.

Could it be that Kitamura Chiaki used some means to control Bai Shihuye, who was far away in Southeast Asia, and pried out some unreliable information about the Genmaki family from his uncontrollable mouth?

And now, she wants to use this information to drag him into trouble?

This inference made him feel extremely uneasy.

If Kitamura Chiaki believed those "hysterical" words and took action based on them, then his choice to believe them would obviously put himself in a dangerous situation.

Silence spread on both ends of the phone line, and Jiujo Renji broke the dead silence:

"What did you get from Bai Shihuye?"

Kitamura Chiaki on the other end of the phone was obviously stunned.

It was a very subtle, almost imperceptible pause, but Kujo Renji captured it keenly.

During this pause, there was no realization of "So you really care about this", but instead a hint of... confusion?

It was as if he asked a question that she had never expected.

After a long time, Kitamura Chiaki finally let out a low and pleasant laugh.

"Hehe... maybe this requires Miss Xiangzi to explore it herself."

Her answer was flawless. She neither admitted nor denied it, but threw the question back.

"Okay, no more words."

Kitamura Chiaki's tone returned to its original calmness and control, as if the pause just now had never happened:

"See you in half a month. I'm looking forward to our 'cooperation' this time, my dear...friend."

She almost whispered the last two words "best friend", which were full of ambiguity and provocation.

The call was abruptly hung up, leaving only a cold busy tone in the receiver.

Kujo Renji slowly put down his phone, frowning.

Kitamura Chiaki's reaction was strange.

If she really got the key information from Bai Shihuye, her reaction should not be confusion, but a show of confidence.

Could it be that...she got nothing?

Then why did she go to so much trouble to mention Bai Shihuye and lead him to Xianjuan's house? What was the real purpose of this game?

.......

Tokyo, the president's office on the top floor of Kitamura Group headquarters.

Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the city night view is as bright as a sea of ​​stars.

Tokyo Tower shimmered with warm orange light in the distance, and beneath my feet was a river of cars flowing by. It seemed as if the whole world was under my feet.

Chiaki Kitamura elegantly placed her cell phone on the smooth ebony desk. She picked up the highball glass on the table and gently shook the deep red liquid inside.

The pause she had just had on the phone was not a pretense.

At that moment, she was really surprised.

In fact, Kitamura Chiaki did not get any valuable information from Shiraishi Toraya.

The so-called "news" was just a bait from beginning to end.

A bait that she carefully designed specifically to catch the big fish Jiujiao Liansi.

Bai Shihu is such an idiot, what could he know in the mud of Southeast Asia?

It's nothing more than some outdated and worthless gang secrets.

For a player of Kitamura Chiaki's level, those things are not even garbage.

She mentioned him for only one purpose.

——Test the reaction of "Shoko Toyokawa".

And the result made her very satisfied.

"Toyokawa Shoko's" reaction was too intense.

As for the Xianjuan family...

That was her real goal. Of course, she didn't hear the inside story of the Xianjuan family from someone like Bai Shihuye.

Her information came from the intelligence network built by the Kitamura chaebol at a huge cost of resources, from the fragile alliance of interests between her and the old aristocrats, from the sophisticated analysis of abnormal fluctuations in the financial market, and even from a certain... careless remark made by a disgruntled member of the Genjumaki family after a drunken encounter.

She knew much more than Kujo Renji imagined.

She knew that a huge storm was brewing within the Genmaki family, a succession dispute that could upend Japan's economic landscape. Hidden within this storm lay enormous interests that could propel the Kitamura chaebol to new heights.

Of course, there is also the risk of being doomed.

The Genjumaki clan was too powerful, and any attempt to tear a piece of flesh from it would likely lead to a devastating counterattack. Although Kitamura Chiaki was conceited, she did not dare to face this giant beast alone.

She needed a collaborator.

A collaborator who is smart enough, bold enough, unscrupulous enough, and...not bound by worldly rules.

She looked around at her huge business empire. None of the elites in suits, politicians with connections, and ruthless white gloves met her requirements.

They were either too greedy, too foolish, or too cautious. In the face of real swordplay, they were nothing but useless porcelain.

What she needs is a truly sharp scalpel that can deliver a thunderous strike in silence.

And looking across Japan, she only knew one such knife.

That is Kujo Renji.

So, on the one hand, inviting "Toyokawa Shoko" to the dinner party was indeed due to her little, twisted "bad taste".

She really wanted to see what kind of interesting scene it would be when her once powerful friend, dressed in women's clothes and as a noble lady, re-entered this top world of fame and fortune.

She enjoyed this morbid feeling of having the powerful at her disposal.

But more importantly, on the other hand, she recognized the man's abilities from the bottom of her heart.

She knew better than anyone how terrifying Kujo Renji was.

He is not like those gangsters who only know how to fight and kill. He has the intuition of a beast, the insight of a scholar and the madness of an artist.

He can see through the deepest desires and fears of the human heart and turn them into his own weapons. When dealing with a thorny problem like the "Genmaki Family Incident," where even the slightest misstep could lead to disastrous consequences, only a "madman" like Kujo Renji, who plays by his unconventional ways, could precisely carve a path through the behemoth's fangs and reap the greatest benefits.

"Kujo-kun..."

Kitamura Chiaki murmured softly to the night view outside the window, with a complex smile on her lips:

"Please don't let me down. The stage prepared for you has just begun."

She drank the red wine in the glass in one gulp. The spicy alcohol and mellow fruity aroma exploded in her throat, just like her mood at the moment - full of excitement about danger and a determined desire for the future.

She knew she was taking a huge gamble.

The stakes are the future of the Kitamura chaebol.

........

Three days passed.

There is less than half a month left before Kitamura Chiaki's invitation to the so-called "dinner party" which is actually a Hongmen Banquet.

During these nine days, Kujo Renji used all the secret channels he could to try to pry open the news that the "Xianjuan Family" might have triggered and to find out the truth inside.

However, the result shocked him.

The information he received was either superficial, well-known information about the chaebols, or deliberately embellished family histories, as perfect as PR drafts. Any deeper exploration was in vain, and even attracted some unnecessary "attention."

This in itself explains the problem - the water in the Xianjuan family is even deeper and deeper than he originally expected.

Under this suffocating pressure, a message from another world line, with a completely different atmosphere, quietly arrived on his mobile phone.

It was sent by Ichichi Hoshige.

[Ms. Xiangzi, I have good news for you. The number of followers on the official social media account of "Ending Band" has officially broken through four digits! It's over a thousand! This is all thanks to you!]

At the end of the message, there was a series of excited and incoherent emoticons representing "throwing flowers" and "celebration". The blond store manager's heartfelt joy and gratitude could be felt through the screen.

When Jiujo Renji saw the message, his tense nerves relaxed for a rare moment.

End of the band...

During this period, he really didn't let go of that aspect completely.

Even when he was fully focused on investigating the Genmaki family, he would still divide his attention and quietly "take care" of those girls under the identity of "Toyokawa Shoko", especially... Goto Ichiri.

The pink-haired girl was simply a steady source of his "authenticity points," a treasure trove of impossibly pure energy.

Kujo Renji's methods have always been direct and effective.

He knew very well that for a genius like Goto Ichiri, who was extremely introverted but had amazing musical talent, money and empty praise were secondary.

What she needs is understanding, recognition, and all the conditions that allow her to immerse herself in the world of music without distraction.

Therefore, his "little gifts" are never cliché.

Sometimes it’s a guitar effects pedal from a Nordic independent brand that’s extremely hard to find on the market, which can perfectly reproduce the tone used by her idol;

Sometimes it was an out-of-print LP by a legendary guitarist from the 1970s, with a never-before-seen sheet music manuscript inside; sometimes, it was just a seemingly casual text message. After listening to the band's new demo, he accurately pointed out the slightly obscure but highly spiritual chord progression in one of her improvisations, and added a sentence: